(Houston, TX — Jan. 29, 2019)


On the heels of making history and inspiring a nation, the 17 African American female judges of Harris County in Texas were honored by the Harlem Globetrotters today, a team known for breaking down social and cultural barriers for 93 years.  In the video below,  Globetrotters stars Torch George and El Gato Melendez recognized eight of the 17 phenomenal judges in front of students at Law Elementary in Houston.

The Globetrotters donated 170 tickets to their games at the University of Houston from Feb. 15-17. The 17 judges will circulate the tickets to the nonprofit Making It Better and honor roll students at Law Elementary. At the school, judges Dedra Davis, Toria J. Finch, Erica Hughes, Latosha Lewis Payne, Michelle Moore, Shannon Baldwin, Tonya Jones, and Ronnisha Bowman joined the Globetrotters to reveal an important message to the students that anything is possible with hard work and demonstrating important character traits.

In true Globetrotter fashion, the judges and several students learned some of the iconic basketball tricks. Like the 17 judges of Harris County, Torch is an accomplished African American woman. She starred at Purdue University and joined the Globetrotters in 2017. She recently became the first women in the Globetrotters’ history to earn a Guinness World Record title. Fewer than 20 women have played for the team since 1926.

The Globetrotters are in the midst of their 2019 Fan Powered World Tour, which will see the team play in more than 250 North American markets, as well as 30 countries worldwide.

Tickets are now available at
www.HarlemGlobetrotters.com